The present invention relates generally to the creation and use of metal plates as shields for off-road vehicles and, more particularly, to shields for skid steers.
Skid steer loaders, also known as uniloaders, are highly compact off-road vehicles that are steered by driving the wheels on one side of the vehicle at a different speed, in an different direction, or both at a different speed and in a different direction from the wheels on the other side of the vehicle. Because of their compact nature, skid steer loaders operate in environments in which they are required to negotiate around obstacles such as trees and tree stumps, which are likely to cause damage to the skid steer upon impact. Most of the abuse absorbed by skid steers loaders during normal operation is on the rear portion of the vehicle.
Operators in the past have mounted protective wooden strips on the rear portion of the vehicle for protection against impacts. These wooden strips are unsightly and relatively ineffective. Other proposed solutions, such as the structure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,918, have used a rear door and an elastomer bumper as protective devices. These proposals are ineffective, however, because they only protect a small portion of the rear end of the vehicle and do not protect the entire rear and lateral sides. Still other proposals are disclosed in the patents discussed below.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,788,899 and 5,794,805 are directed to double-walled light housings mounting front and rear lights that serve as a fuel tank assembly and as bumpers protecting the upper portion of the vehicle frame. The housings are composed of plastic and define a plurality of horizontally disposed light chambers open away from the frame whereby lights can be selectively mounted in appropriate light chambers. The storage containers are composed of non-metallic parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,466 is directed to a body-side protective molding system that is secured to the vertical metal side panels of an automobile body. The body protective system includes side protective moldings, each made of a roll-formed metallic carrier strip. The strip is bonded at its undersurface to a layer of adhesive tape comprising a two-sided, stick-on neoprene tape. The side of the adhesive tape opposite the carrier strip is used to attach the carrier strip to a surface portion of the automobile body. The metal carrier strip supports a plastic insert that is bonded or mechanically affixed. This system has the disadvantage of being difficult to install and not suitable for off-road vehicles that incur a great deal of damage over a wide surface area on the rear of the vehicle.
To overcome the shortcomings of conventional skid steer loaders, a new skid steer loader is provided having a visually attractive shield of high structural integrity that covers the entire rear and lateral side portions of the vehicle and protects the vehicle from impact and abrasions. An object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a skid steer loader construction having a protective shield. Another object is to provide a protective shield having a diamond plate metal tailgate panel that is rotationally molded to define the lower rear door panel, and two diamond plate metal side panels of substantially equal shape for protecting the left and right vertical upright members of the skid steer loader in the area between the rear door and the wheel wells.
To achieve these and other objects, and in view of its purposes, the present invention provides a protective shield (aka bumper beam) for use on skid steer loaders. The shield includes left and right laterally spaced side panel members having laterally facing surfaces and a rear door having a rearwardly facing surface. The protective shield (or bumper beam) is mounted to the rear of the skid steer loader and further includes a diamond plate metal tailgate panel that is rotationally molded to define the lower rear door panel, and two diamond plate metal side panels of substantially equal shape for protecting the left and right vertical upright members of the skid steer loader in the area between the rear door and the wheel wells.
The present invention also provides a kit suitable for installation of a protective shield on a skid steer loader which includes a diamond plate metal tailgate panel that is rotationally molded to conform to the first and second elements of the rear door and thus define the lower rear door panel, two diamond plate metal side panels of substantially equal shape for protecting the left and right vertical upright members of the skid steer loader in the area between the rear door and the wheel wells, at least four bolts of a size and dimension suitable for securing the tailgate panel to the skid steer loader plate, and at least eight side bolts of a size and dimension suitable for securing the side panels onto the skid steer using four bolts for each side panel. Alternatively, instead of bolts, the kit may include adhesive suitable for mounting the tailgate panel onto the rear door of the skid steer loader.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the invention.